Thursday, April 24, 2014

Chiropractic Care for Short-Term and Long-Term Health

Chiropractic Care for Short-Term and Long-Term Health


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Chiropractic Care Is Comprehensive Care
Following a complete evaluation, which includes a history and physical examination, your chiropractor will design a care plan that will meet your specific health needs. Your care plan will include chiropractic care focusing on improving function of your spinal column. Your care plan will likely include additional recommendations, such as stretches, exercises, and nutritional planning. Your chiropractic care plan may, depending on the circumstances, include strategies for reducing stress and obtaining proper rest.
Your chiropractor is a holistic practitioner who has expertise in many areas of health care. Chiropractic care is well known for its ability to treat musculoskeletal problems such as neck pain, back pain, and headaches. As chiropractic care focuses on the nerve system, your chiropractor may be of benefit in the overall care plan for many other conditions.
Chiropractic care is the one form of health care that keeps on giving. Chiropractic care certainly helps people to recover from short-term health problems, but this powerful method of healing also helps people stay well and assists in preventing new problems from developing.
Your chiropractor treats a wide variety of musculoskeletal problems. Neck pain, back pain, pain that travels from the neck to the arm and hand, pain that travels from the back to the leg and foot, headaches, and muscle spasms are conditions commonly treated by chiropractic care. Your chiropractor also treats many types of exercise- and sports-related injuries, such as rotator cuff injuries, tennis elbow, wrist sprains, knee injuries, ankle sprains, and shin splints. Repetitive stress injuries such as carpal tunnel syndrome are also treated by chiropractic care. Also, chiropractic care may be a valuable addition to treatment for sleep disorders, digestive problems, menstrual cramps, asthma, and various allergies. Chiropractic care may also be of great assistance during pregnancy, in helping to relieve neck pain and back pain and to ease the process of delivery.
Chiropractic care can be beneficial for so many health problems owing to the fact that chiropractic care directly affects the functioning of your nerve system. Your nerve system, consisting of your brain, spinal cord, and nerves that branch out to the rest of your body, is your master physiologic system. Your nerve system, by sending signals to every cell, tissue, and organ in your body, controls all the other systems. Your heart relies on the nerve system so that it can pump blood at the right time and in the right amount.1 Your small intestine relies on the nerve system so that it can complete the digestion of food and transmit usable nutrients to the bloodstream.2 Your white blood cells and other immune system agents rely on the nerve system so that they can quickly identify and destroy foreign invaders such as bacteria and viruses.3
But your nerve system can break down, in a sense, if spinal nerve interference is present. Such nerve interference, caused by irritation and inflammation of spinal nerves, is caused by loss of full mobility of spinal vertebras. Limited spinal motion irritates the muscles that move the spinal bones and the ligaments that hold those bones together. Inflamed spinal muscles and spinal ligaments cause spinal nerve inflammation. The immediate result is distortion in the quality and flow of information sent from the brain to the rest of the body. Too much or too little information is sent to the cells, tissues, and organs. The messages they receive are the wrong messages, or the messages arrive at the wrong time. The outcome is decreased functioning and/or inappropriate functioning of many other physiologic systems. Thus, spinal nerve interference is one of the primary causes of the many problems that may bring a person to his or her chiropractor's office.
Chiropractic care helps reduce and remove nerve interference by restoring increased functioning of your spinal column. The direct result is improved overall functioning of the rest of your body. By directly focusing on your spine and nerve system, your chiropractor can help restore quality of life and overall health and well-being.
1Muller MD, et al: Mental stress elicits sustained and reproducible increases in skin sympathetic nerve activity. Physiol Rep  2013 Mar 1(1). pii: e00002.
2Zhou G, et al: White-matter microstructural changes in functional dyspepsia: a diffusion tensor imaging study. Am J Gastroenterol 108(2):260-269, 2013
3Straub RH, et al: Role of neuroendocrine and neuroimmune mechanisms in chronic inflammatory rheumatic diseases-The 10-year update. Semin Arthritis Rheum 2013 May 31 doi: 10.1016/j.semarthrit.2013.04.008 [Epub ahead of print]

Wednesday, April 9, 2014

Is your Baby Walking?






Why Do You Need Your Baby Checked?

Before the baby was born you were doing many things to ensure your baby’s health. You ate right, took vitamins, did not drink alcohol, did not smoke, did not use drugs, and did not take over the counter medications. Now that the baby is born you want to do what is right for them.  You are breast feeding them, keeping them away from cigarette smoke, having wellness check ups. But have you had your baby’s spine checked? An unhealthy spine can affect the health of your child. The spine is what protects the nervous system. The nervous system controls all functions of the body. Dr. Skrien is specially trained to check your baby’s spine for areas of vertebral subluxations. The vertebral subluxations cause the nervous system to be in a state of dis-ease, and not working properly. This will cause the health of your baby to less then healthy.


When Does A Baby Need A Spinal Checkup?

Six times in its first year.
  • After the birth of the baby. This may be the most traumatic event in their life.
  • When they start to hold up their head. Very important in development of the cervical curve.
  • When they start to sit up. Think of all the times they tip over and jar their spine.
  • When they start to crawl. Start to develop the low back curve in the lumbar spine.
  • When they start to stand. Count how many times they fall down and jar the spine.
  • When they start to walk. Again see how many times they fall down.
This is according to chiropractic pediatric specialist Larry Webster, D.C.

What Else Can Chiropractic Help With My Childs Health?
For over a hundred years chiropractic has been helping baby’s respond to chiropractic care. These are a few conditions that Dr. Skrien has helped in his clinic with chiropractic care.
  • Colic
  • Difficulty breast feeding
  • Ears, nose and throat infections
  • Allergies
  • Sleeping disorders
  • Projectile vomiting


To have a healthy baby you need to give them the best possible chance. You have had your baby’s eyes checked, heart checked, hearing checked. Now have their spine checked, it could make a big difference in their health for the rest of their lives. 


Wednesday, April 2, 2014

Morning Back Ache




Dr. Skrien’s - Health Tip of the Week

Morning Backache

           
How you feel when you wake up has a lot to do with how you sleep the night before. If you’ve been waking up stiff and miserable because of poor sleeping posture, overwork and tension, it’s time to see the chiropractor for a “cure”.

            Your doctor of chiropractic can attack the problem two ways; with expert, hands-on treatment to help your back feel better right away and with the know-how you need to get better sleep in the future.
                       
            Chiropractic adjustments are designed to eliminate any spinal subluxations that are causing nerve irritations, restoring the normal flow of nerve energy and helping the body to heal itself. Your chiropractor also can provide guidance in choosing the right kind of mattress for proper support and the placement of extra pillows – under the knees if you sleep on your back, or between you legs if you sleep on your side – for added comfort. Sleeping in an unsupported, face-down position can, in time, cause pain.    
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